The Latent Tuberculosis Infections Inventory (LTBI) project aims to examine and create an overview of the Nordic-Baltic countries’ and Ukraine’s approaches to handling LTBI, and to compare those with the existing WHO and ECDC guidelines and recommendations. The ultimate goal is to contribute to the achievement of the WHO End TB Strategy’s targets by pursuing new knowledge that can change TB prevention and care.

About a quarter of the global population is estimated to have been infected with TB bacteria. A person has LTBI if he/she is infected with the TB bacteria, but does not have signs of active TB disease, does not feel ill, nor is contagious.

The specific goal of the action is to inform decision-makers and politicians in the area about the importance of the LTBI diagnosis and management as a step towards TB elimination and encourage them to strengthen relevant measures at different levels.

The project will make use of earlier research conducted by Finnish Lung Health Association (Filha) and will be implemented in close cooperation with the NDPHS Expert Group on HIV, TB and Associated Infections (HIV, TB & AI EG).

The main target group of the project is decision makers of the Nordic-Baltic countries who will benefit from evidence-based recommendations on LTBI management that will help them take steps towards ending TB. The project outcomes will also benefit the work of the NDPHS HIV, TB & AI EG and the wider TB expert community.

The project is expected to produce the following output:

Report on the gaps, barriers, challenges, needs and options in connection to LTBI management in Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland and Sweden. The project also seeks to obtain and include data of the LTBI situation in Ukraine and among Ukrainian refugees in Nordic-Baltic countries.

The expected results of the project are:

– Increased knowledge and data about the LTBI situation in the region

– Evidence-based policy advice for the improved management of LTBI in the region

– Contribution towards the WHO End TB Strategy

– Improved cooperation between the countries and experts of the Nordic-Baltic region as well as Ukraine on the topic of LTBI

This overview describes the first year of the project. Additional activities are planned to be conducted in a potential second year of implementation.

The project is financed by the Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services.

Project partners